Mapping shrub biomass in a boreal continental fen
Date
2019-01-24
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Abstract
Biomass estimation is a heavily explored topic in the literature, as biomass information can provide valuable insight into understanding an ecosystem’s health. However, few studies exist on quantifying aboveground biomass (AGB) in peatlands. This thesis summarizes how allometric equations and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) can be used to map AGB across a 2-hectare peatland site. Prior to using UAVs to measure AGB, accurate field measurements are required to calibrate and validate the UAV-AGB model. We developed allometric equations for three dominant shrub genera found in boreal peatlands and found that equations based on shrub genus were not significantly different from a pooled equation of all shrub genera. The UAV study revealed that UAV-derived volume was the best predictor of AGB (R2=0.885) and was subsequently used as the dependent variable for our AGB model. This thesis reports the findings revealed through the process of estimating AGB using allometric equations and UAVs.
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Keywords
biomass, remote sensing, allometrics, shrub biomass, aboveground biomass, unmanned aerial vehicles
Citation
He, A. (2019). Mapping shrub biomass in a boreal continental fen (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.